


Nightmares and Telling of Secrets

by LeVen



Category: Valdemar Series - Mercedes Lackey
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-10-27
Packaged: 2018-02-22 22:32:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2524079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeVen/pseuds/LeVen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amily only shook her head, leaning closer to him. “No, Mags, I can’t.” Amily rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his torso to keep him close. They were content to sit like this, until Mags stopped jumping at shadows and his heart stopped pounding like thunder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares and Telling of Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> "I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams."  
> Jonas Salk

_The tapping of rain on the roof of Cole Pieter's building, he was standing in the midst of the other mine kiddies. Their footsteps hardly making any noise under the cover of the rain._ It's strange, _Mags mused._ Where is Master Cole and the other Pieters?

_In the dream he was thirteen again, and very much by himself among the children stumbling around him. Mags reached out to one of them, grabbing who he thought was Davey, but when he forced the figure around he realized that he had no face. Where his features should be, was a gaping, dark hole._

_Suddenly, all the other children turned towards him. Their faces were like melting butter with their frail arms reaching out to him._  
"Why did you leave us?" _They moaned. Hands latching onto his clothing, tugging at the cloth with their bony fingers and and short ghost-like bodies. Mags tried to scream, but his mouth became filled with sand and he could not even whimper. He struggled to get away, but their hands were like glue on his skin, tearing at flesh and Mags thought he was going to die._

And he awoke with a strangled cry.

Mags was no longer in Cole Pieters mine, there were no mine slaves tearing at his skin and wanting to eat him. He wasn't thirteen anymore, Mags was a Herald.

A stir in the bed beside him, the intake of breath that was Amily. Mags realized now that his shirt was soaked through with cold sweat. He was sure that his heart could be easily heard through his chest, and he couldn't stop himself from flinching at Amily's touch.

Not after what he just dreamed.

"Mags? Are you alright?" She whispered, her voice startled amidst her still asleep body. Her hand was gently touching his own, and he noticed that his fists were clenched.

"Nothin', jus' a bad dream is all." He muttered, still trying to calm his breathing. "Go back t'sleep Amily."

Amily only shook her head, leaning closer to him. "No, Mags, I can't." Amily rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his torso to keep him close. They were content to sit like this, until Mags stopped jumping at shadows and his heart stopped pounding like thunder.

"Was it a bad dream?" Amily finally asked, after holding him for so long. Mags didn't want to reply, he didn't want to tell her what had happened. He was scared that it would come back.

:Just tell her Chosen.: Mags' nightmare must have woken Dallen,who must have felt the backwash of his fear. :You need to talk about your nightmare sometimes, and you need sleep anyway. Your nightmares aren't making that any better.:  
Mags inwardly sighed, and he allowed Amily to move his body downward, allowed himself to rest his head on her lap in place of the sheets.

Mags allowed himself to close his eyes, melting at the touch of her hands running through his hair. At Dallen's assurance, Mags sighed deeply. He breathed in Amily's sent and tried to ignore the nagging fear in the corners of his eyes.

"Don' think ye wanna hear it." He confessed, "'S not a good dream." Amily only smiled at him, hushing his protests.

"Father always says that talking about your nightmares can make them better, and they make you less afraid." Amily always seemed to know what to say, and her voice dared him to keep silent about his terrors.

Mags took a deep breath, recalling the dream that didn't seem to want to fade. "I was thirteen again, still in the mines." He started, and swallowed hard. "It was rainin' and no one was around 'cept for the other mine kiddies." Amily never stopped running her hands through his hair, stopping only to untangle knots in his hair, her face no longer tired.

"So it was one of those dreams again?" Mags nodded, he'd never stopped having dreams about the mine. Over time, they became less and less, but they were always in the back of his memory, waiting to stir up an old fear.

"I reached out to Davey, was gonna ask 'im what was goin' on, why Master Cole wasn't around." He suppressed a shudder, new details emerging in his mind-eye. "When I turned 'im around, 'e had no face, jus' a black gapin' hole." His voice wavered, and Mags closed his eyes again with a shuddered inhale.

"An' all the other mine kiddies had the same face, black holes with narrow bones and brittle skin. They reached out, wantin' to know why I left 'em, tearin' at my skin because they were all so hungry." Amily's nightgown was starting to dampen, burning tears across his cheeks and bridge of his nose from how he was laying. And Amily didn't say anything, never stopped running her hands through his hair in the most calming way. Mags' heart raced once more, his body curling up around her lap but he didn't lift his head.

"So hungry, tore at my clothes, their cries for somethin' I ain't able to give them. Wantin' what I have, mad at me 'cause I got out and they don' have a Companion an' food an' blankets." Their black faces reaching out to him with scrawny hands with more force than was realistic. Mags could now see some of the flaws in his nightmare. It didn't make it any less real, no less terrifying. "It was terrifyin', an' I couldn't yell or speak like my mouth was full of sand."

Mags sniffled, his nose starting to run from his crying. Amily still didn't say a word until he finally told her when he woke up.

"It's just a bad dream Mags, the other kids found are away into better homes like they should have been. You know that." Mags wanted to laugh, a tentative smile breaking his frown.

"Tell that to my dreams." He shot back, the fear ebbing away. "It ain't so easy tellin' everyone that I didn't do nothin' when your mouth is full of sand."

Amily laughed softly, her giggle reminding him of bells that rung in the Chapel. "See? It isn't that scary now isn't it?" Mags laughed this time, feeling the return of drowsiness.

"No, not really."

"Good." Amily proclaimed and Mags lifted his head from her lap. "I'm still tired and you have work to do tomorrow." She not so gently reminded. Mags grinned, mirroring her own fatigue.

Amily moved so that she was back under the covers, resting with her back away from him. He copied her position, curling her form closer to his. His heart raced again, but not from fear this time.

"Amily?"  
"Hm?" Her voice muffled from the fabric of his shirt, his arms draped over her body.

"Thank you."  
Mags didn't know if she'd heard it or not, he drifted off to sleep shortly after. Nor did he care what she had said, because he already knew what she would tell him. _It's fine, I love you._

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I really got offended when I realized there is only one work with Mags in it. This was sxlitarytrainee's idea because I didn't know what I wanted to write about. This is my first finished work for Valdemar, and the fandom needs more Mags.


End file.
